The present invention generally is related to messages, such as SMS messages, email messages etc.
More specifically, the present invention is related to the audible notification, that is played by a communication-device (such as a cellular-phone) upon receiving a message, and to the visual notification, that is displayed on the screen of a communication-device, upon receiving a message.
SMS (Short Message Service) is a service that allows a first user to send a textual message using her or his communication-device to a second communication-device of a second user. SMS is well known in the art, and many users of cellular-phones worldwide communicate by sending and receiving SMS messages on a daily basis.
When a communication-device receives a message, it plays an audible notification, in order to draw the user's attention to the new message. The audible notification may be a simple beep sound, or a more complex melody. The audible notification is sometimes called “ringtone”. A popular ringtone is the “Gran Vals” ringtone. The “Gran Vals” ringtone is a phrase from the “Gran Vals” composition for solo guitar by Francisco Tarrega, written in 1902. The phrase is taken from the 13th bar to the 16th bar of the composition, as shown in FIG. 3.
In some occasions, the audible notification may disturb the user of the recipient communication-device and the people nearby. For instance, an audible notification played by a cellular-phone during a concert may disturb the audience and the performers.
It is well known that the communication-device may be configured by its user to be on silent mode. However, many users often forget to configure their communication-devices to be on silent mode in advance, before going to sleep, before attending an important meeting, or before attending a concert.
However, current art does not allow the sending user (the user who sends the message) to disable the audible notification of the recipient communication-device (the communication-device that receives the message). Only the user of the recipient communication-device can set, in advance, her or his communication-device to be on silent mode.
What would user A do, if she or he would like to send a message to user B, but suspects that the audible notification, which is played by user B's communication-device, may disturb her or him? Current art does not give a solution to this problem.
In addition, when a communication-device receives a message, it turns on its screen and displays a visual notification about the incoming message, such as : “A new message from Paul!”. There are times when the visual notification may disturb. Suppose for instance, that the user of a cellular-phone is sleeping, while the cellular-phone is placed nearby. The light emitted from the screen of the cellular-phone, as a result of the visual notification, may disturb the sleep of the user.
What would user A do, if she or he would like to send a message to user B, but suspects that the light emitted from the screen of user B's communication-device, as a result of the visual notification, may disturb ? Current art does not give a solution to this problem.